How does the Casey Burns folk flute hold up in a session?
walk not into battle with a butterfly
but with a broadsward
Can’t really tune it ( 
), and it sounds kinda “hooty” to me. But maybe that’s who’s playing it. Might see one tonite; I’ll give it a try for myself if it shows up and see what kind of tone I can get out of it.
To tune it, all you can do is pull the body tenon out from the head socket, and there’s only so far you can go and hope it’ll hold together. The one I’m thinking of still plays sharp even so. Doesn’t exactly make for sympathetic fellow sessioners, if you get my drift. If you want to play with others, please, please get a flute with a tuning slide. It’s just doing the right thing, you know.
The fellow I have in mind bought his mainly because he was convinced he could get by on the cheap. Wrong. It’s his second flute, now, because of the bad strategy of trying to pinch pennies, and I expect he’ll eventually get a flute with a tuning slide, because he seems to be finally getting tired of being out of tune with everyone else. So instead of saving money, which was his goal, he’s been throwing it away. And it’s not like I didn’t warn him. But what did I know…
If all he was doing was solo playing, it wouldn’t have been an issue.
Interesting… my Casey Burns standard (also w/o tuning slide), is tuned to concert pitch with the body pushed all the way together. (So, no opportunity to go sharper). So far it hasn’t been an issue for me.
I had a chance to try someone else’s Folk Flute, though, and I expect it would hold its own just fine in an average session. Besides, it’s not the flute, it’s the player… remember? 
My Burns Rudall (no slide) usually finds itself in tune with the tenon out about 1/4-3/8 of an inch, so there’s a bit of room on either side. I haven’t had the chance to try the Copley (no slide) in a session yet, but with the tuner it seems about the same as the Burns.
Nice small session Friday night in Kilshanny. Box, concertina, two flutes. One fluter showed up without her flute and so played my Burns FF. It was perfectly in tune and sounded great. Cheap doesn’t always mean inadequate. I nearly sold it this year but the buyer reneged so I still have it - and glad I do.
Don’t know Casey’s folk flute – only played one of his more expensive flutes, and this isn’t about my review of it. Most “folk flutes” are not all that loud and – probably more importantly - all that crisp. Bamboo flutes, such as Olwells, are pretty loud and hold their own against most session (and most wooden flutes, come to think of it). But the problem with tuning a fairly non-tunable flute is not whether the flute is in perfect A440 tune, but whether your accompanying players - the fiddles and accordians, etc. - are in tune. Often, they’re not, and like to blame the flute player, so the slide is (usually) a pretty mandatory thing. Playing, you can (and do) adjust pitch with a bit by your embouchure, but too much and it will compromise your tone and technique, and you may never quite tune to whatever the session tune is, anyway. Of course, dissonance never stopped any session I’ve ever been to…
Gordon
There’s a guy a session that I’ve started attending here in Montreal who plays a Folk Flute. It sounds nice and in-tune to me.
Fair enuf, people. Probably the player, then.
ahem…so did it, did ya? 
You mean the flute I was talking about? Didn’t show. He’s maybe a once-a-monther or so. I’m still going to try it when I get the chance. I’m curious, now.
::tapping foot…er…waiting…ah…patiently::
Okay, tried it out.
Judging from just a quick run-through, I thought the tone was decent enough, and was able to play it in tune, getting both primarily by turning the headjoint inward (the owner had the emb. hole positioned flat even to the finger holes, which due to his playing across rather than into the cut accounted for the hooty tone I heard and, in good part, his playing sharp). Still had to pull the tenon out from the socket about 3/8 of an inch, though. Others may not have to: some of us play sharper and some of us play flatter.
Bottom D was nice but I’d have to play it more to get used to it; it tended to break for me, but I’m used to a different stick.
I liked the smell of the mopane. Sort of hickory-like.
thanks!
I am still a relative beginner, but FWIW I struggle to get my FF sharp enough for sessions. I tune to an electronic tuner, but it always sounds a bit flat to me when I play with the rest of the session. Maybe that the boxes are all a bit sharp.
I recently had an experienced player see my flute and ask to try it. Wow! The low D was brilliant - not the weak flat effort I was getting. So I suspect it is more the player than the flute. Some players can get a tune out of a piece of drainpipe.
I played a session the other night on a dixon polymer flute. The other flute player had a folk flute. We’re both decent players. We could easily be heard over the two fiddlers, two bodhrans, bouzouki, concertina, and harp. He wasn’t getting that “barky” sound, but I don’t think that was his thing. It sounded rather sweet and meshed well with my sound.
Just to go off topic for a second, the Dixon polymer is another great flute that is really cheap. I was sceptical about using it in a session, but it worked out fine.
most musicians aren’t there to play as loud as possible. If people nave sympathetic ears, they’ll tone down and not overpower you.